The minute the jet landed, Superboy knew that something was wrong. He also knew, once he got straight off the jet, that he should never have let Robin go home.
For one, there were League of Assassins here. And if anyone knew how to fight the League, it was Robin. And Inque. She was here. And other than Batman, Robin was the only one who had the special bag that could hold her.
Superboy charged at the assassins, suddenly furious. How the hell had Talia gotten so many of them to come so quickly? He should have listened to Robin and gotten the team out when he had a chance.
A crack of lightning lifted the hairs on Superboy's arms. He whirled around and spotted Lightning, in the middle of a huge room, frying three fighters with each hand. Superboy almost smiled in relief. They were going to get through this. Then, when they kicked these #$%ing assassins out of the Cave, they would go to the backup HQ in Star City.
Superboy's train of thoughts were cut off when he heard Red scream.
He turned slowly, eyes wide.
Talia al Ghul, in the flesh, was standing with a gun to Red's head, and an inhibitor collar around her throat. Her eyes met Superboy's, and she jerked her head to the side. End the fighting, her gesture said. Now. Or she dies.
"STOP!" Superboy yelled, his voice so loud that even Lightning stopped, on the other side of the room. The silence was deafening.
"Put her down," Superboy warned. Talia al Ghul grinned at him. He heard Robin's sharp intake of breath and Batgirl's gasp.
"I think not." Talia smiled, and tightened her grip on Red's throat. "I'll be giving the orders for now. Drop your weapons. All of you."
The team watched Superboy for a cue. He dropped down, onto his knees, grabbed a dagger from his boot, and kicked it to the left.
Robin took off his utility belt warily.
For the next five seconds, all that was heard was the clang of weapons on the floor.
Superboy glared at Talia al Ghul until she said, "Now, I want all of you in a line, where I can see you. Or else she dies. And it would be a pity, since her death would be so...horrible for you team. And this country. I don't want to give away anything to your guests, but it would be...bloody. Isn't that right, Red?"
Red made a strangled noise.
Lightning came up next to Superboy. Superboy whispered, "On my mark."
Lightning nodded, and Superboy grinned crookedly at Talia. Miss Martian glared at him, and whispered to Batgirl, "Is Connor out of his mind?"
Superboy broke the silence. "So, what do you want, Talia? To ruin the future?"
Talia pursed her lips. "Hardly. This is just a fascinating development. And you know how much I love those."
Superboy watched Red, and saw her nod. "Now," he whispered.
A flash of Lightning went through the room, and before the team could blink, they were out in the open air, on a roof.
Red gagged and started gasping. Batgirl helped her up.
Robin looked out at the brightly lit, but gloomy skyline. "Where are we?"
Sword answered for him. "We're in Neo-Gotham."
Superboy grimaced. "This is the one city in the world with citywide power inhibitors."
Miss Martian turned to him, "What?" She exclaimed. "What in the world does that mean?"
It was Raven that answered, her eyes no longer glowing purple. "It means we have no powers in Gotham."
Wonder Girl nearly fell off the roof when she heard that.
Well, I know that in the Batman Beyond universe, they do have super powered villans in Gotham, but pretend that didn't exist, okay? Basically, only a couple of people have powers in Gotham, and no one of the team can use them here! How will they get out?
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